In our society, as a side effect, there is produced considerable scrap metal. For example, there are automotive vehicles which are no longer useful or which have been abandoned. These automotive vehicles such as automobiles and trucks must be processed as the storage of these vehicles creates a problem and becomes a blight on the countryside and these vehicles are, generally, unattractive after they have been abandoned or damaged. A further class of equipment is abandoned farm machinery. With the technological changes in farm machinery and improvements in farm machinery, the old farm machinery becomes obsolete and inadequate and is discarded. The discarded farm machinery is not used and after awhile becomes a blight on the countryside and should be removed. A further example is light industrial equipment which, after having served its useful purpose, is no longer adequate and is discarded. This light industrial equipment should be removed so as not to clutter the countryside, also to assist in making the countryside more beautiful. An example of this is construction equipment used in road building and also machinery used in manufacturing.
Generally, the automotive vehicles, farm machinery, light industrial equipment and the like is bulky for the weight. It is not economical to process and transport the bulky items as the items are too light to be economically transported. It is too expensive to physically handle these bulky items. Therefore, it is desirable to decrease the bulk of these items so that more items can be handled and processed in an economical manner. One way of handling bulky automotive vehicles and also bulky farm machinery is to smash the bulky items into more compact items. For example, in a wrecking yard, there may be used a relatively simple piece of equipment for smashing automobile bodies. There may be pivoted a heavy sledge having concrete as a filler and a weight. A cable may be attached to this heavy sledge. An automobile may be attached to the cable and upon moving the automobile the heavy sledge may be rotated upwardly. The bulky piece of equipment such as an old automobile body or a piece of farm machinery may be placed under the sledge and the sledge allowed to rotate and fall on the bulky scrap metal. The bulky scrap metal is compressed to a more dense unit of scrap metal which can be, economically, transported for further processing.
Another way of processing scrap metal is to shear the scrap metal into small pieces weighing less than a pound, to increase the bulk density, then collect these small pieces and transport to a steel mill or a further processing facility. The small pieces may be collected, loose, in a container and transported loose. As can be, readily, appreciated the density of the small pieces is, considerably, greater than the bulk density of the scrap metal such as an automotive vehicle body. There may be a portable shear for shearing the automotive vehicle body into small pieces of scrap metal.
Another way of handling the scrap metal is to shear the scrap metal into small pieces of less than about 10 pounds. Then these pieces of scrap metal can be compacted and compressed and baled and shipped in a bale. This increases the bulk density and makes it, economically feasible, to transport the scrap metal to a steel mill.
A further way of processing scrap metal is to shear the scrap metal into small pieces. Then, the small pieces can be separated into non-metallic material, magnetic metal and non-magnetic metal. For example, pieces of glass can be separated from the metal. The magnetic metal can be separated from the non-magnetic metal such as aluminum. The non-magnetic metal can be compressed into a unit of greater bulk density and shipped to further processing facility. The magnetic metal can be compressed into a unit of greater bulk density and shipped to a steel mill or further processing facility.
A further way of processing scrap metal of small bulk density but of relatively large volume is to compress the scrap metal so as to increase the bulk density and also to, possibly, form long strips. Then, the long strips can be sheared into slugs or short pieces of scrap metal. The short pieces of scrap metal or slugs can be placed into a container and transported to a steel mill or further processing facility.
There are many ways of handling scrap metal. Generally, the purpose is to increase the bulk density so as to make it economical to transport the scrap metal, relatively, long distances. To increase the bulk density it may be necessary to shear off small pieces of scrap metal and to transport the sheared scrap metal in boxes or containers. In certain instances the sheared scrap metal can be compressed and compacted and baled.